Dresses are reasonable attire for Christian women

Dresses and skirts are reasonable attire for Christian women. Some Americans do not think so. Even some churches, Christians, and Christian women no longer think so. However, the EEOC thinks so, and now Wellpath healthcare services does too.

Malinda Babineaux, a nurse and member of the Apostolic Pentecostal Christian Church, wanted to be able to both work and live by her beliefs as well. Living out those beliefs includes wearing a scrub skirt (as opposed to scrub pants) while she is working. When Wellpath, an organization who hired Babineaux, found out her faith and practice, they denied her clothing request and took away the job they offered her.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a nurse who is a practicing Apostolic Pentecostal Christian was hired by Wellpath to work in the GEO Central Texas Correctional Facility in downtown San Antonio. Before reporting to work, the nurse told a Wellpath human resources employee that her religious beliefs require her to dress modestly and to wear a scrub skirt instead of scrub pants while at work. In response, Wellpath denied the request for her religion-based accommodation and rescinded the nurse’s job offer.

Philip Moss, a trial attorney for the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office, said, “Under federal law, when a workplace rule conflicts with an employee’s sincerely held religious practice, an employer must attempt to find a workable solution.” Apparently the EEOC felt that Wellpath made no such attempt, and took them to court. And won.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination against a person based on such things as religion, race, and sex are prohibited. Employers are required to offer reasonable accommodations to an individual’s “sincerely held religious beliefs unless it would pose an undue hardship,” the EEOC stressed.

It’s official, legal – and probably even biblical – skirts and dresses are reasonable attire for Christian women!

Read about it here:

• Wellpath to Pay $75,000 to Settle EEOC (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Religious Discrimination Case
• Healthcare provider to pay $75K to nurse in ‘scrub skirt’ religious discrimination lawsuit
• Health care provider pays $75,000 in ‘scrub skirt’ religious bias suit

Respect for women

According to Yahoo Lifestyle, U.S. Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman will appear unclothed in the 2018 swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated. Raisman says (and is inscribed with) “Women do not have to be modest to be respected.” (She also appeared in the 2017 swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.) Raisman was also one of the many victims sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar of USA gymnastics.

I agree with Raisman’s message that women should be respected, regardless. Each and every one has intrinsic value as God’s creation. I disagree with her message, in word and deed, to jettison modesty – a biblical teaching. Also she is quite naïve if she thinks men will be looking at her and the other scantily clad young women in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition because of how much respect they have for them!

Wise choices or "Victim blaming"

Mayim Bialik: Being a Feminist in Harvey Weinstein’s World -- "Nothing has been a harsher reminder that I work in an industry that profits on the exploitation of women — and not just on screen — than the accusations of Harvey Weinstein as a serial sexual assaulter, particularly of aspiring young actresses."

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and for her efforts to promote "choices...that I think of as self-protecting and wise," actress Mayim Bialik accused instead of blaming the victim. Are we so absorbed in the shame/blame game that "we [must] be naïve about the culture we live in"?

In a satirical mood, the Babylon Bee muses that the Morally Bankrupt Entertainment Industry [Is] Totally Baffled As To How Culture Became Morally Bankrupt.

Should women wear dresses to worship?

Should women wear dresses or skirts to worship (as opposed to pants)? This may not interest many of you, but it was discussed on a blog I read. I thought I'd bring the question to my blog and see if any reader would comment.

Should women wear dresses to church? Is it wrong for women to wear pants to church? How much of this is tradition and how much is scripture?

• Is women wearing pants a "wearing what pertains to a man" issue? (Deuteronomy 22:5 - The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.) Are pants designed for women man's clothing? Are pants inherently man's clothing? If this is a "cross-dressing" issue, isn't it wrong all the time and not just at church services? (Are Scotsmen who wear kilts violating Deuteronomy 22:5? Thought I'd throw that in for good measure.)
• Is women wearing pants possibly a modesty issue? (i.e., are dresses inherently more modest than pants?)
• Is women wearing pants possibly an issue of casual versus formal dress (i.e., are dresses inherently more formal than pants)? If so, is wearing "casual" clothes to worship a scriptural issue?

What scriptures guide us in this matter? Most agree that there is a scriptural principle for dressing modestly, while often disagreeing on the exact application of how to obtain that. If pants "drawing attention to the crotch" is a modesty issue (as some say), is it also so for men? Do dresses draw attention in other ways? Are pants for either men or women mentioned as attire in the Bible?

Does the law being done away have any effect on its use in discussing this issue? Is Deuteronomy 22:5 a ceremonial law or moral law or possibly both?

What does the Bible say about specific clothing? What is the first mention? With many things we find an important principle when first mentioned in the Bible. The first mention of clothing or attire is in Genesis chapter 3. Obviously the fig leaves were not acceptable, but what about what God clothed them with? Genesis 3:21: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." One thing I notice is that the same word is used for that with which God clothed both Adam and Eve. Did He violate His own principle? Have we created new rules that He did not?

What are your thoughts? Thanks.

Nudeness and Clothing

"Christians in all ages wore modest apparel — becoming and suitable. Nowhere were they described otherwise except by force of a brutish mob. Every Bible scene of just people, where details are mentioned, portrays them properly mantled. And every Bible picture scene of nudeness shows a people gone wild as in Exodus 32:15-28. & Acts 22:22.23; or else possessed, as in I Samuel 19:1-24, & Luke 8:26-39. In all the Bible reflected heavenly views, whether presented on earth’s arena or heaven’s rostrum, they are garbed in white raiment as in Acts 1:9,10, Rev. 15:6, and Daniel 7:9. Clothing is man’s best sign of prosperity, honor, and decency, and has the sanction of God’s approval. Genesis 3:21."

Ira Copeland in The Baptist Progress, August 19, 1937